It would be cool if someone who knew Korean could confirm this for us, but in my opinion I don’t think it’s that strange to call people “dear” in general. Didn’t FDR refer to Stalin with “my dear” in his letters to him? I don’t find that weird. Also it could very well be a cultural thing too, some are just “warmer” than others. I mean, this example isn’t the same, but I thought it was hilarious when Hakim called Putin “habibi.” Maybe it’s just me, though, I like sweetness.
The particular phrasing that gets thrown around is extremely cultish in English (dear leader, glorious leader, supreme leader, etc.) which is why westerners keep repeating it. It doesn't come off as a term of endearment, more like subservience. I dunno what Koreans say in Korean and whether it carries the same connotations though (probably not).
Yeah that makes sense. In my political science classes when Authoritarian governments are brought up the term “supreme leader” is used a lot so maybe I’m used to it. Then again it very well might be a language barrier with tonal contexts (how they say it). I can’t recall a time when a Western leader was ever referred to as “supreme leader”…
Yeah, Aria mentioned how "prime minister" is the same thing but with neutral connotations. It's another case of using good words to describe ourselves and bad words to antagonize our targets.
It would be cool if someone who knew Korean could confirm this for us, but in my opinion I don’t think it’s that strange to call people “dear” in general. Didn’t FDR refer to Stalin with “my dear” in his letters to him? I don’t find that weird. Also it could very well be a cultural thing too, some are just “warmer” than others. I mean, this example isn’t the same, but I thought it was hilarious when Hakim called Putin “habibi.” Maybe it’s just me, though, I like sweetness.
The particular phrasing that gets thrown around is extremely cultish in English (dear leader, glorious leader, supreme leader, etc.) which is why westerners keep repeating it. It doesn't come off as a term of endearment, more like subservience. I dunno what Koreans say in Korean and whether it carries the same connotations though (probably not).
Yeah that makes sense. In my political science classes when Authoritarian governments are brought up the term “supreme leader” is used a lot so maybe I’m used to it. Then again it very well might be a language barrier with tonal contexts (how they say it). I can’t recall a time when a Western leader was ever referred to as “supreme leader”…
Yeah, Aria mentioned how "prime minister" is the same thing but with neutral connotations. It's another case of using good words to describe ourselves and bad words to antagonize our targets.